One Thousand Kisses (26 page)

“You’re mistaken.” While he might desire her, he’d overcome it this morning and sought another woman’s embrace. Not exactly an indicator of a man who’d forgive anything.

“Don’t you want to know why?”

Milshadred was a murderer—murderer by gnome. A murderer would have no compunction about lying. “Why would I believe anything you tell me?”

“I’ll give you a freebie.” Milshadred grinned, her teeth large and white. “The fact you’re here means you ditched my dear, sweet cousins, Warran and Ophelia. Stay away from them. They mean you harm.”

Freebie or misdirection? Milshadred might be guessing and might have overheard something. Then again, Milshadred might be in league with her clansmen.

“Are you colluding with them?” How Ani wished Embor had been able to share his version of events before passing out.

Milshadred smiled tightly. “Untie me and I’ll tell you.”

“Not good enough.” Ani rolled the agony globe between her fingers in a way she hoped was threatening.

Milshadred laughed. “Give it up, Princess. You’re not going to use it. You healer types never can bring yourself to cause pain.”

That was normally true, but a violent power had been shocked out of Ani in the wake of the Torvals’ mindwipe. When she’d turned that anger on the gnomes, it had killed them. Could she bring herself to use it on purpose, after years of training to do no harm?

She might have to. “You don’t know me.”

“I know enough.” Milshadred swiped her bleeding chin against her shoulder. “I know why my cousins targeted you. I know what they were going to do. And I know it was going to succeed.”

“Not possible.” Did she really know about the forced bond or was she trying to scare Ani?

“You’ve met Jake, right? Married to your sister? Predicted to destroy us all? All sorts of things the Elders don’t see fit to share are possible. Hell, the Elders don’t even know as much as they think they do.”

Since Ani had used that same argument on Embor, she couldn’t deny it. That didn’t mean she had to agree aloud. “Jake has nothing to do with what happened here.”

“That’s all you get. You want me to spell it out, you have to untie me.”

“I can’t do that.” Ani sighed and replaced the globe in her purse. “I don’t trust you.”

“Understandable.” Milshadred closed her eyes. “What will it take for you to let me go?”

“If you answer more questions, I’ll recommend clemency.” Ani wondered if Embor would be willing to give it.

“Clemency?” Milshadred scrunched her face. “I’ve heard that one before.”

“It’s all I have to offer. I’m not even in Younger Court.” Ani waited until the agent gave a single, short nod before continuing. “Do you know anything about the Drakhmores helping Embor?”

“They were news to me. I’m impressed. Never thought Jerk-off would work outside the laws of the Realm. Nearly caught us, too.”

“He did catch you,” Ani corrected.

“But not the others.” Milshadred leaned forward as much as her bonds would allow. “I’m not the crazy one. I wanted somebody to do something about the damned AOC. But I wasn’t the one who hurt him the most.”

“That’s no excuse for your actions. People died.”

“We went overboard, and I didn’t keep an eye on my sibs. Mea culpa.” Milshadred shrugged. “The AOC was never going to make good on our contract. They wanted us dead. What was I supposed to do?”

“Not try to kill Elder Embor. Twice, if we count today,” Ani added, hoping for details.

“Nobody was supposed to die, and nobody did die.” Milshadred tilted her head toward the sleeping Primary. “I hear his campaign against the AOC isn’t going so hot.”

“You hear a lot of things about the Realm for someone hiding out in humanspace.”

“It pays to stay abreast of current events. Chew on this, missy. I could tell him what he’s doing wrong with the AOC. Does that sweeten the pot?”

“I truly can’t release you.” Ani frowned, tempted for the first time to take the agent’s bargain. She could tell Embor Milshadred had escaped.

No, no lies. She’d tell him the truth. If the information was more valuable than a Torval in captivity, did it matter he might never forgive her?

“I don’t want to die, girlie, and if you force me back to the Realm, that’s what will happen.”

“The Court will imprison you, maybe banish you to Greenland. They won’t—”

“The Court?” Milshadred cackled. “They’re more toothless than I am. In case you haven’t clued in by now, the Court isn’t the agency I’m worried about.”

“Meh,” Master Fey added. He sat pertly on the table, ears forward.

Ani stared at the agent. Some of the fairy globes had begun to flicker, low on power though they could last years in the Realm. Shadows and light danced across the other woman’s face, smoothing her wrinkles, softening her features. What was it Tali had said about the Torvals. They were two hundred and fifty. Tali had bonded, married and had the triplets young, in her sixties.

The Torvals, it seemed, had never had families. Their careers had been everything, and now everything had soured. Imagine being in the prime of one’s life and yet so near the end of it. Should Milshadred return to the Realm and be given access to a Court healer, her youth could be restored.

The AOC promised all humanspace agents complete renewal before it sent them to the other side. Humanspace agents weren’t like Jake, Tali and their assistants. They couldn’t return to the Realm until their contracts were up due to issues with separation sickness. With acclimated physiologies, they appeared human, even during an autopsy. But more and more humanspace agents had died before the end of their contracts. Now only the largest rings had humanspace outposts. In human studies class, the deaths had been attributed to environmental factors.

Was that true or were Milshadred and Master Fey right? What was at work here?

“Perhaps we could come to an agreement,” Ani said at last. “It won’t be the one you suggested.”

Milshadred’s shoulders straightened. “What do you have in mind?”

“Part of what you think the AOC is going to cheat you out of,” Ani said. “Healing.”

“I’m not giving up the goods for a Band-Aid,” Milshadred said with a snort.

“Full healing. Whatever you want. I’ll do it myself.”

“You think I couldn’t have had that already?”

Ani’s confidence wavered despite her words. “If you could, why wouldn’t you have?”

“I suppose you do know what you’re doing,” Milshadred mused. “You’re trained and experienced. Other people are as likely to screw up as they are to get it right.”

“I have my journeyman’s license. I can restore fertility.” Humanspace agents were sterilized to prevent what had happened with Tali—cross-pollination with a lost one. Though it had worked out with Tali and Jake, that didn’t mean it would with anyone else.

Milshadred’s expression hardened. “Is that all?”

“I can reinstate your rightful age,” Ani added. “Inside and out.”

“So I’ll make a pretty corpse? Perky tits won’t do me any good if I’m dead.”

“I don’t know what else to tell you. I can heal you, but I can’t offer safety if you think the Court can’t provide it.”

“Letting me go would keep me safe, cupcake.” Milshadred kicked an empty bottle on the floor. “You can sure as hell provide that.”

Now that Milshadred knew about the Drakhmores, Embor wouldn’t have another chance at catching her. Yet with her in custody, it increased the likelihood he could arrest her sibs. Sibling sets didn’t do well without their focal.

Arresting all four Torvals was Embor’s goal. It was what drove him. It was what he felt he needed. It was what might make him happy.

Ani would do whatever she could to help.

“Give me answers. Did you set a trap for him?” she asked the older fairy. “How did you know he was coming? Were you responsible for the repository’s disappearance? How did you cast spells if you’ve lost your magical cortex? I thought acclimated fairies were limited.”

Milshadred wriggled the cords that secured her to the chair. “Untie me. I can tell you so much, Princess. I can even tell you what he learned from the Seers.”

“He learned about Jake having the potential to destroy the Realm. I already know that.”

Milshadred eyed her shrewdly. “He learned about you.”

Ani’s stomach clenched. She’d been to the Seers once. She hadn’t stayed for the whole reading because she’d had greater worries that frantic night. She’d just learned her sister was pregnant, bonded to a onesie and banished to humanspace. While sibling sets didn’t do well without their focals, they could make do. Twins, like bondmates, had difficulty existing apart.

For once in her life, Ani hadn’t second-guessed herself. She’d simply acted. She’d decided to accompany Tali to humanspace. Forever, however short that ever might be with a human lifespan. Nothing was as important as keeping her family together. The Seers’ prediction had driven that home to her.

“You’re making that up,” she accused Milshadred. “The Seers told Embor about things that affected me.” With Milshadred refusing to cooperate, Ani didn’t know what else to try. Time to focus on relocating everyone. She’d let Embor deal with Milshadred when he woke.

“Hey, I didn’t even know Jerk-off’s secret until tonight,” Milshadred said. “Drunks have big mouths. Ask him about the Seers before he sobers up. Hell, ask anyone here.”

Master Fey, silent through much of the exchange, miaowed loudly, attracting their attention. He trotted down the table and sniffed Embor’s cheek, whiskers twitching. Embor grumbled and batted at the cat.

“He told everyone a secret about me?” Ani asked dubiously.

Milshadred shrugged. “It slipped out.”

“Then why won’t you tell me?”

“Because you won’t let me go.”

Ani petted Master Fey when he head-butted her shoulder. No doubt it would be easier to ask a Drakhmore what Embor had said than confront Embor himself. “How much is everyone going to remember?”

“Fairies can’t handle the sauce.” Milshadred peered through deepening shadows. “They tend to have blackouts.”

Milshadred might be conning Ani, trying to convince her that her only chance of getting information was through Milshadred. “I can’t sit around all night debating this. I need to transport everyone to safety.”

“With Embor’s little repository gone, you’re as safe here as anywhere, which is to say, not very,” Milshadred said.

Ani pointed at her. “You did destroy it.”

“Shit, no. I don’t know anything about it.” Milshadred grinned. “Not. A. Thing.”

“Mrow,” Master Fey said at the obvious lie.

So what could Ani do? How could she protect this passel of drunken Drakhmores who weren’t supposed to be here? How could she keep Milshadred secured? How could she hide herself and Embor from anyone who might be searching for them?

How could she find out what Embor had learned from the Seers?

And most importantly, how could she make him happy?

Chapter Nineteen

“Oh my appletini.” Talista, hands on ample hips, goggled at the bodies sprawled around the bar. It wasn’t easy to surprise Ani’s humanspace-hardened sister. A giant fairy light hovered in the center of the room. “What happened here, an orgy?”

Ani clasped her hands. “A spell forced them to drink to excess.”

“A spell made ’em do it? Never heard that one.” Tali rolled up her sleeves. “Are we going to sober them up?”

“I only have two healing globes.” When she’d knocked on Tali and Jake’s door, they hadn’t seemed surprised to see her. A little surprised to see Milshadred—Ani hadn’t dared leave her behind—but Jake had disappeared with the agent, and Tali had offered her help. They hadn’t badgered for details beyond the immediate ones.

Tali pulled a silver device out of her shorts pocket. “Where is he?”

Ani, counting transportation globes, looked at her sib. “Is that a camera?”

“Hells, yes.” Tali pointed and clicked. “It’s a Kodak moment.”

“Be serious. We don’t even know what happened.” Ani reached for the camera, but Tali darted through the room, snapping portraits of unconscious fairies.

Tali shot her a superior glance. “I’ve got some ideas.”

“I’m sure you do.” Tali had ideas about everything.

“Jackpot.” Tali hovered over Embor’s golden head and photographed him from several angles. In sleep, the stress lines relaxed out of his handsome face. “I don’t suppose you’d let me take off his pants?”

Ani inserted herself between her insane sister and the Primary. A familiar anger, tinged by resentment, cramped her heart. How could Tali be the mother of three and a ring agent but behave like a bratty child? “Embor was attacked by warped magic, some horrible weapon our enemies invented, and you’re making a joke? You should be ashamed.”

Tali coughed out a laugh. “The warped weapon of our enemies, wooooo.”

“I’ll take the camera away.” Ani was taller, with a longer reach, and exercised more. “You told me yourself human alcohol isn’t a fairy’s friend. They could have been—”

“Fine, fine. I’m done.” Tali’s cheeks reddened. She held up the camera and, with exaggerated gestures, retracted the lens. “But I’m not ashamed.”

Ani closed her eyes. “How much do you know about what happened at Court?”

“I heard Embor went bananas and molested you.” Tali slid the camera into her pocket. “Then he set the palace on fire, killed a cat and kidnapped you to further his evil plans. It was great—like one of Pap’s crazy stories.”

Tali’s human grandfather-in-law collected gnomes that had turned to stone in humanspace. He claimed he’d known about the Realm for years. Ani had never met him, though she’d spoken to him on the phone and seen his handiwork.

Even so, her experiences the past couple of days were nothing like one of Pap’s tall tales. Especially not the kissing parts. “How long have you known I might be in trouble, Tali? Have you helped search at all?”

“You don’t have to take that tone. You’re my sib. Skythia let us know immediately.” Tali pulled out her own baggie of transportation spells. “Said she’d keep us posted.”

Not once had Ani sensed Tali looking for her. She’d never have been blasé about Tali’s possible rape and kidnapping. Keeping the secret when Tali had gone AWOL in humanspace had given Ani an ulcer, and healers rarely got sick. “My situation didn’t concern you?”

Tali’s gaze shifted to a spot near her feet. “Why should it? It’s total bunk, right?”

Ani’s lips tightened.

“Right?” Tali repeated sharply. “Or am I about to kick our fearless leader in the head?”

Tali had never cared for Elder Embor, but to suspect him for one moment as capable of rape and kidnapping was outside of enough. The man was the leader of their Realm. He was honorable and just. He was also infuriating, uptight and sexy.

But he was no rapist. Ani could personally verify he was more of a tease.

“Do I look as if I’ve been ravished?” she asked Tali.

“Kinda.” Tali returned her gaze to the floor. “I won’t really kick him. You can tell me if he—”

“I haven’t been ravished.” Much to her dismay. “The cat is also alive and well.”

That dragged her sister’s attention from the ground. “There’s really a cat? I figured that was part of the bunk.”

“He led us to Key West. There was another Fey cat here, but she disappeared.”

Tali scratched her head. “That is so weird.”

“He wants revenge on the Torvals. He said they hurt him.” Ani spied Master Fey sleeping on the back of an unconscious Drakhmore. “He’s over there.”

Tali spotted the cat. “He looks familiar. Hey, cat, do I know you?”

Master Fey ignored them. Tali squeezed Ani’s arm. “If there are cats involved, I’m done messing around. I don’t know why I do it. I swear, you bring out the worst in me.”

“I’ve noticed,” Ani said gently. It seemed true of most siblings. Certainly in Tali’s presence, Ani felt her timidity and lack of contentment most keenly.

“Hugs later.” Tali narrowed her eyes. “Tell me everything.”

“I’ll have to abbreviate for now.” Ani sighed. “Embor knew something bad had happened to me. Warran Torval—”

Tali interrupted with a gagging noise.

She ignored it. Tali couldn’t grow up completely in ten seconds. “You were right about Warran. He’s a nasty piece of work. He and Ophelia intended to force a bond on me. I have no idea why they thought it was possible, but they mindwiped me to hide their failure. Then they used more spirit magic to turn the tide against Embor.”

“Do you want me to kill them?” Tali asked, her blue eyes serious. “I’m authorized to use deadly force.”

“No, you’re not.” Fairies did not murder.

“Under certain circumstances.” She shoved her red curls off her forehead. “I can’t tell you everything. You’re not cleared.”

“I daresay the current situation changes that.” If she couldn’t get answers from Tali, she may never get them.

“Some things aren’t mine to tell.”

“You sound like Milshadred.”

“Oh, please. I’m nothing like that mean old goat.”

“She claims to know secrets about the AOC board and the Torval Elders.” Ani paused, trying to decide if she should introduce something personal when they had important tasks to handle. “She said Embor learned something from the Seers about me.”

Tali sucked her teeth. “Yeah, that your hottie brother-in-law was going to raise the roof.”

“She said it was about me specifically.”

“How could there be anything about you and Embor?” Tali laughed abruptly and loudly. “Wow, really? You fell for that? Classic confidence game. People are more gullible if you pretend they’re special.”

“The cat agreed with her.” Ani had wondered how much truth there was to Milshadred’s words and now doubted her…doubts. Double doubting. Typical.

“She played you like a tin bucket. Gosh, we need to get cracking.” Tali marched away from Ani and grabbed a Drakhmore by the arm. “The D-mores can sleep it off in the shed. I don’t want them puking on my new carpets.”

“The who?”

“The Douchemores. That’s what I like to call… Balls.” Tali shot her a tight grin. “I mean, they seem like douches. More douchey than you, that’s for sure. You’re a great sister. So kind and understanding.”

“Douchemores.” Ani didn’t know what it meant, but it was plainly an insult. “That’s awfully close to their clan name. I never told you who they were.” It had been Ani’s understanding Jake wasn’t being introduced to the Drakhmores. He was the reason their clan had been banished from Court, and it was thought best to let that sleeping sphinx lie.

“Uh…yes, you did. You called them Drakhmores several times. You just forgot.”

She hadn’t. “Has Jake met them?”

“Well, he and I aren’t together constantly.” Tali rocked on her heels. “I guess he could have met them. He and Embor are always running off to—”

“Jake and Embor?” Ani asked sharply.

“Balls,” Tali said.

A small hand shook him. “Psssst.”

Embor tried to open his eyes. A spike of pain that felt hauntingly familiar shot from one temple to the other. “Where am I?”

Two hands, one on each shoulder. “Wake up, dude.”

Through blurred vision he glimpsed red hair, pale skin. He reached for her. “Anisette.”

“Hells, no.” Talista jerked away like she’d been zapped by electricity. Embor was in the guest bedroom of the Serendipity’s house in Vegas with no memory of how he’d gotten there. His hostess gestured at the door. “I’ve only got a second. Listen up.”

Embor heard footsteps in the corridor.

“Cow pox. She knows, okay? She tricked it out of me.”

The discomfort between his ears slowed his comprehension. “Knows what?”

Anisette’s mild voice from the doorway. “I know you’ve been plotting with my sister and Jake.”

Embor flopped an arm over his eyes, surprised to find his skin bare. He drew the sheet to his neck. “It was necessary. Where’s my shirt?”

“In the laundry.” Anisette studied him as if she could see through the thin sheet. She knew about the scars, but Talista didn’t, and he wasn’t in the mood for a rude interrogation.

“How long have I been here?” Over a week, he guessed, for him to feel this degree of separation sickness. The headache was much worse than the one Anisette had labeled withdrawals. Why couldn’t he remember anything past Skythia’s house in Key West, and why was he still suffering from separation sickness instead of being healed?

Anisette checked the watch on her wrist. She was dressed in a blue shirt and flowered trousers. “We’ve been in Vegas about twelve hours.”

“That’s all?” The frown wrinkles on Embor’s forehead shoved the hurt deeper into his brain. He focused on his bottom half, relieved to find his drawers in attendance. “Tell me what happened.”

Anisette, her face expressionless, nodded. “Tali, if you could give us a moment?”

“Why do you need your own moment?” Talista plopped into an armchair and glared at him, for what he had no idea. “We both have questions for him.”

What was wrong with him? He replayed the events of the past day. The cat had guided them to Key West. He’d intended to contact the Drakhmores. No, he had contacted them. Vague conversations flashed through his brain.

“I may not be able to answer all your questions,” he admitted as the obvious truth hit him. “I seem to have been mindwiped.”

Ani ducked her head. Tali snickered and clapped a hand over her mouth.

More feet in the hallway, these small yet thunderous. “Hooray, it’s the mean man.”

The bed trembled as a body leapt onto it. Embor glanced over to see the red hair and grinning face of Violet Serendipity, cleaner than the last time he’d seen her. Before she could jackhammer into him, Talista caught her around the waist.

“Vi, people are not jungle gyms.”

“He likes me,” Violet insisted.

“I doubt that.” Talista spun the child upside down.

Violet shrieked with laughter, her hair dangling like a mop. “Fly me to spoon.”

Embor winced and considered his situation. Anisette was justly perturbed about his involving her family in illicit activities but seemed unconcerned about his health. Either she was glad for his pain or he wasn’t in as much jeopardy as the headache suggested.

His vision seemed normal. He had no tremors. His skin wasn’t sensitive, and his bones didn’t ache. His stomach did, though. A sour odor hovered around the bed.

Conclusion—the pain in his head wasn’t separation sickness.

Nor did it seem to be entirely due to withdrawals. His memories of the past twelve hours were missing, and withdrawals didn’t include memory loss, confusion or anxiety.

Mindwipe did. He’d need to be alert for any urges toward atypical behavior.

“If I could have a shirt with long sleeves,” he began.

“Shirty, shirt, shirt,” Violet sang. “Birdy, bird, bird. Fly, fly, fly.”

Violet’s ruckus attracted the other children, who raced into the room and clung to Anisette’s legs. “Ani!”

Their gusto threatened to tug off her trousers. Embor glimpsed purple panties before she gripped her waistband and smiled. “You saw me five minutes ago.”

Talista righted Violet. The tot began singing a loud ditty about ghosts. Combined with the piping voices of the other two, Embor thought his eyeballs might pop out of his head.

“Where’s Jake?” he asked hopefully. Surely the other man would sympathize with Embor’s predicament and save him.

“Activating trackers on all the rings,” Talista said. “It’s the second phase of the plan, remember? Oh wait. You don’t remember, since you and the D-mores tried to land the Torvals without us.”

“We did no such thing.” He might have a blurred memory, but if he’d acted on his strategy to capture Milshadred, he would have succeeded. Anisette would hardly be displeased with him if he’d concluded his mission, freeing him up to deal with the other Torvals.

Yet she hadn’t congratulated him, hadn’t even smiled at him. She was definitely displeased. Talista was something else entirely.